Esther Wong

Polynesian dance acts weren't attracting customers, yet when Paul Greenstein, a Los Angeles "bum vivant," first approached her husband George about booking bands, she declined.

Greenstein's persistence, and the fact that he had already given the nearby "Atomic Cafe" a new lease on life (cross-pollination between owners' children worked the magic), caused her to agree to a trial run in October 1978.

Notable bands that she showcased included Los Lobos, The Knack, The Police, The Motels, The Members, Fishbone, The Go-Go's, X, The Alley Cats, The Bangs, Oingo Boingo, Los Illegals, Candy, Guns N' Roses, Black Flag, Daniel Amos, Fear, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Ramones.

[4] She opened another venture, "Madame Wong's West" at 2900 Wilshire in Santa Monica, California in 1978 and it had a successful run before it closed in 1991.

Acts that year included Devendra Banhart, Vampire Weekend's secret 2009 Halloween show, The Answering Machine,[5] Wavves, Smith Westerns, Jounce, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions, Backbiter, Salvador Santana, The Growlers, Harlem, and others.

Madame Wong's occupied the upper floor of 949 Sun Mun Way (green-trimmed balcony) in Chinatown Central Plaza , next to the Hop Sing Tong building
Madam Wong's West